New Plan for Cincinnati Oriented Around A Multi-Centered City

Cincinnati holds a distinguished place in the history of the planning profession, as the first major American city to officially endorse a comprehensive plan (1925). With the completion of Plan Cincinnati, which will be presented to the city's the Planning Commission today, the city's planning department hopes to capitalize on the comeback led by Mayor Mark Mallory to refocus Cincinnati on a comprehensive vision for the city, after a contentious period of squabbling between developers and officials. 

According to Simes, "The renewed focus on urbanism in the Plan Cincinnati document establishes 11 goals that range from growing the city's population, to becoming more aggressive with economic development, to developing a culture of health. One of the key goals set out by Plan Cincinnati calls on leadership to build on the city's existing assets. To that end, the plan identified 40 Neighborhood Centers that should serve as the diverse, walkable centers of activity throughout the city."

"City planners acknowledge, however, that building upon existing assets will not be enough in order to create the envisioned outcomes identified within PLAN Cincinnati. As a result, the document identifies 14 preliminary opportunities (see second map) for future mixed-use development that can eventually serve as new neighborhood centers where they are currently lacking."